Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The Taoiseach says we are moving to where he wants us to go in terms of the health service. On this issue as with so many others, the Taoiseach has no idea where he is going. We want to see an end to the piggybacking of private health care in the public health system. There is nothing wrong with the provision of private health care, either in respect of those who want it and those who want to provide it. The problem is the abuse by this Government of taxpayers' money. The public system, funded by the taxpayer, should not bail out private health care developers, and that is exactly what is happening.

Is that Fianna Fáil policy and is the Taoiseach proud of that? When he makes the point about Dean Swift, does he think the electorate and public are all Lilliputians? The reality is that the public is aware of what he is proposing. People throughout the length and breadth of the State are talking about this issue and are furious about it.

What we see is the total abandonment of the commitments made by the Taoiseach and his colleagues in government prior to the last general election and before that, where he clearly indicated the need and the commitment to provide 3,000 additional beds within the public health system. There have, however, only been identifiably 535 since 2001. Moreover, there is now a marked difference between that stated objective of the Government, particularly the Minister, and the view of the HSE chief executive officer, Professor Brendan Drumm, who says it is nonsense, that we do not need those beds. Where is the truth in all of this and where does the Government stand in regard to the utterances of Professor Drumm, who seems now to be more in charge of our health system than the Minister for Health and Children, who is supposed to be democratically accountable to the people? The Taoiseach, in turn——

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